Istanbul: January 19 Posted on January 20th, 2012 by Samuel Krech

Today we woke up, boarded buses, and headed for a new part of Istanbul.  Our first stop was the Panorama 1453 Museum which is an amazing work of art depicting the siege and capture of what was then known as Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed II(the conquerer) in, who would have guessed it, 1453.  The siege began on April 5th and went on until May 29th.  When you walk into the main part of the museum you see the panorama, which is basically just a huge painting in a room shaped like a half sphere, the painting covers everything you can see.  It shows the storming of the walls by Ottoman army and you can also pick out the Sultan sitting on his horse.  I think the best way to describe it would be like watching a frame of a movie in an IMAX theatre which goes 360degrees aroundyou, there are also sounds affects like explosions and swords clanging together in the background.

Our next stop for the day at the Miniaturk Museum.  This museum is outside and is full of miniature models of all the great sights in Turkey.  From the Hagia Sofia to the hills of Cappadocia when you walk around this museum on the cobblestone paths you feel like a bird flying through Turkey seeing from a distance all the great places in the country.  There was also a miniature train that could take you around the whole place for one Lira, which some of us did do, it brought us back to our childhood.

Our last stop for the day was the hilltop summer resort of Pierre Loti.  You have to take cable cars to get to the top and while in them you get a great viewoff the city but it does not compare to the one you get at the top.  From this hilltop vantage point you can see the Bosphorous winding its way through the city, you can see all the big mosques of the city in the distance and you get a feel for why Istanbul is sometimes referred to as the City of Seven Hills.

After Pierre Loti we were on our own for the rest of the day to grab some food, catch up on our reading and explore our local neighborhood.

– Sam “having an amazing time in Istanbul” Krech